DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Liberty Pole

Purpose:

Commemorate early colonial revolt against Stamp Act.

 

Location: (Street, Park, GPS)

Prescott Park, N 43D04.556' W070D45.109'

 

Date Installed:

Original Pole erected in 1833, replaced in 1872 and 1899

 

Date or Era Referenced:

1765, Colonial

 

Description:

A flag pole with 3 plaques, a wooden shield, a gilded eagle and a liberty cap with 13 silver balls are all affixed to it.

 

Wording:

The shield has 13 stars and 13 stripes. It dedicated to “emancipation from tyranny.”

The largest plaque: “Liberty Property and No Stamp” Near this spot, then “Swing Bridge” but thenceforward called “Liberty Bridge” on January 9, 1766, nine years before the Revolution the “Sons of Liberty” of Portsmouth, N.H. placed the first No Stamp Flag raised in the American Colonies. “Swing Bridge” built waterway filled. The Liberty Pole Association

 

Affiliations:

City of Portsmouth, Sons of Liberty, The Liberty Pole Association

 

Summary:

  • The origins and context for the Liberty Pole are well documented including an article in the Portsmouth Herald “NH Liberty Pole Guide for Idiots” by J. Dennis Robinson and an array of information regarding the Liberty Pole Association at the Portsmouth Athenaeum.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.